Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie's son Maddox is not seeking legal guardianship of his five younger siblings when he turns 18 next month, despite a false tabloid report. Gossip Cop can debunk the phony story. It's completely made-up.

According to New Idea, the eldest of the Jolie-Pitt children wants to look after his siblings, Pax, 15, Zahara, 14, Shiloh, 13 and twins Vivienne and Knox, 10, as their parents struggle to finalize their divorce and reach a custody agreement. A supposed source tells the magazine, "He knows it's a big step and there are a few legal hurdles to overcome, but he's seen the effect that Brad and Ange's custody battle has had on the kids and he thinks this is the best way to protect them."

The alleged tipster continues, "Brad and Ange's constant rowing doesn't look like stopping and Maddox is sick of it. But more than that, he's worried about it taking more of a toll on his siblings." The questionable source adds, "Maddox knows it's a huge step, but he feels like he's had to grow up so much since the split that he really thinks he can handle it."

In addition to the tabloid's story being untrue, it isn't logical. In April, Jolie confirmed in an interview with People that Maddox is heading off to college in the fall. Although it hasn't been revealed where the teenager is enrolling, he was seen visiting universities in South Korea with his mom last year. Even if Maddox ends up going to college in the U.S., the idea that he'll have time to look after his five siblings while enrolled in college full-time doesn't make much sense.

Of course, there's also no legal basis for the teenager to get guardianship of his siblings. Maddox would have to convince a judge that neither of his parents are competent enough to look after their kids. A drawn-out custody battle simply isn't grounds for putting kids in the care of their oldest sibling. Still, Gossip Cop checked in with a source close to the situation, who assures us the magazine's premise is absurd.

New Idea is the same tabloid that Gossip Cop busted last year for falsely claiming Pitt was having a baby with Jennifer Aniston amid his divorce from Jolie. In April, shortly after a judge declared Pitt legally single again, we called out the magazine for wrongly reporting that he was marrying Aniston. The movie star isn't back together with his ex-wife in any capacity. The outlet clearly isn't reliable when it comes to accurate news about Pitt and Jolie's divorce.